The Games We Play
by Jupiter Queen
Summary: "Despite wanting more, she didn't pledge defeat (with words), because she wasn't one for raising the white flag in a losing game. She was one for raising hell. She wanted to raise hell with him tonight..." Warning: Contains profanity and sexual/suggestive content. Based on a tumblr prompt.


_**Based on a prompt from Imagine Your OTP ****on tumblr**: Imagine your OTP at an outing with friends (dinner, sports game, etc.) and teasing each other under the table when no one's looking. Eventually they leave early with a lame excuse, and go home together._

_**Warning**: Contains sexual/suggestive content._

_**Note**__: This may turn into a companion piece for later down the line in my 7teen story series. This is set during the summer after they graduate, which is during "season two." __(__"__Sleeping with a Friend" by Neon Trees may or may not have been played a million times while writing this.)_

* * *

Outings with the gang–outings like this one tonight–were always plenty of fun. The seven of them had gone bowling for a few hours, since it was the bowling alley's Cosmic Night, where the main lights off would be turned off in favor of neon fluorescent lights and electrifying dance music. (Caitlin always adored how her pink top and blue skirt would glow under the lights.)

Now, after Jonesy was done humiliating himself and Jude was crowned the champion of the group's game, they decided to stop playing for the night in favor of getting some food at the diner they occasionally visited, Maria's Place. (Jonesy had only one condition to agree to–a promise to Nikki that he wouldn't order chili fries. He sadly complied.)

"I'm still wondering how you beat me," Jonesy said to Jude after taking a bite of his burger.

"It's easy," Nikki interjected before Jude could reply, "_you_ lost and _he_ won." She snorted and took a sip of her milkshake.

He looked at her unamused, his eyebrows temporarily furrowed. "You didn't win either."

She continued to smirk, saying, "Yeah, I know, but I'm not being a sore loser about it."

He pouted. "Whatever."

Her look was satisfactory, maybe bordering on smug. Besting her boyfriend in a war of words was her skill. "Guess we all know who the winner of _this_ game is," she said, referring to the mini-argument that just took place.

With Nikki's comments beginning to wear off–since she _did_ mock him often–he decided not to get mad, rather getting even. Maybe even in the best way if he could do it right. "Y'know what? That's okay. 'Cause I'll get you back."

She rested her elbows on the booth table, calm and collected. "I'd like to see _that_ happen."

He smirked while thinking, _Perfect_. Though she wasn't aware of it, she just gave him even more of an okay to go ahead with his just-thrown-together plan. "Just remember those words when I do it."

"Okay, if you say so," she mocked. _Wow, he really thinks he's gonna do something_, she thought.

Caitlin took note of how much they always went back and forth, giggling at the realization. "Aww, you guys are so cute and competitive and stuff. Which reminds me–I saw a really cute guy checking me out in the lane next to us."

"Aren't you with some other guy?" Jen asked.

"I _was_ with some guy. He just wasn't the one."

"Aw, sorry to hear that, Cait."

"It's okay."

"Didn't you mention someone else–_ah_!" Nikki gasped after feeling fingers run up her thigh, causing the gang to look at her in confusion.

Wyatt was the first to speak. "Nikki, are you okay?"

She wasn't used to losing her composure in front of the gang (or at all, really). "Me? Yeah, I'm"–another caress on her thigh, but no time to fully react to it–"fine."

Jen asked, "Are you sure?"

Nikki nodded, her expression appearing normal again. "I'm fine. Just a twitch."

Caitlin, resuming the group's previous conversation, asked, "So Nikki, what were you gonna ask me?"

"Didn't you say you were already after someone else?" She needed to focus by latching herself onto this conversation. Jonesy was just trying to mess with her, that was all.

"Well, yeah… Maybe… I don't know–it's complicated."

"How so?" Jen asked.

Caitlin's finger traced circles on the tabletop as she spoke. "I don't know if I really _like-like_ this guy, but he's really sweet and stuff. Maybe I'll like him more when we go on a date..."

Nikki nodded attentively, but Caitlin's words still trailed off. (A lot of the guys she mentioned in conversation seemed to overlap anyway. They sounded like the same guys with different names. Or the same names if _the one_ could be counted as a name.) Nikki continued to look across the table at Caitlin and the space around her, determined not to look at Jonesy, whom she felt glancing at her for a split second. She became oddly suspicious when he stopped dancing his fingers along her leg, but never gave him a single look. Maybe acting like she wasn't fazed ruined his attempt at getting back at her after all.

Caitlin was still speaking. "…He's some country club guy, though. Would it be messy if I dated him and we break up, but I still see him there all the time?"

For just a moment, Nikki shut her eyes tight. He started rubbing his hand from the part of her thigh closest to her knee and almost to her hips. Again, she tried shaking off the feeling. _He's just trying to screw with my head. __It's that and nothing more._

Nothing more became a little something more as she began to lose her grip on the conversation happening around her–all she knew now was that Jen had started speaking and Sydni had nodded in agreement–and held onto the feeling of Jonesy touching her. Well, touching her leg. But it was in the way he touched her, the way he had touched her when they slept together in previous weeks and days, the way he knew her body_—__Snap out of it_, she thought abruptly. Giving in to him right now was a losing game, and she was no loser. She resolved to pretend like his touches were nothing until he gave up. She could get what she wanted from him later anyway, when things _weren't_ a competition.

While Caitlin, Jen, and Sydni had engaged in a conversation of their own, Nikki had focused on what she and Jonesy could (and would) do later. He could run his fingers through her hair. He could kiss her neck while unhooking her bra like he always did. (Then again, he'd probably leave another mark on her neck that Caitlin would have to cover with tons of foundation and concealer.) He could _certainly_ rub up and down her leg like he was doing now.

She didn't want to look at him until he stopped, but she wasn't sure if she wanted him to stop anymore. If anything, she wanted _more_. A blush creeping on her face, she looked at him and caught him looking back at her. He was smirking, satisfied with getting the reaction he wanted from her.

Despite wanting more, she didn't pledge defeat (with words), because she wasn't one for raising the white flag in a losing game. She was one for raising hell. She wanted to raise hell with him tonight–screaming and shouting, moaning into his kisses, losing and catching her breath, running her fingers through his hair, and practically jumping onto him. She wanted it all and it was both their faults. His fault for touching her, her fault for reacting to it.

Before she could ask it herself, she found Jonesy whispering in her ear, "Wanna leave?"

She nodded. Making sure she looked as normal and unfazed (and unexcited) as possible, Nikki said, "Guys, Jonesy and I've gotta go." She didn't need to offer any explanation because _that's_ when the gang would probably be suspicious, since she was someone of action more than someone of useless explanations and excuses. The truth, however, was that she didn't care if the gang bought her (half-truth) lie or not.

The two of them squeezed their way out of the booth and Jonesy said, "See you guys tomorrow." After that, the couple casually walked out the diner like nobody knew what they'd be up to later.

But their friends totally knew.

Jude chuckled. "Du-u-udes. I think they're gonna 'do it.'"

"It's so obvious," Caitlin added, and Wyatt nodded in agreement (even though he felt it was awkward this was now the topic of conversation).

Jen cringed at the thought of her stepbrother and best friend being intimate like that. "Please don't remind me. God, I _heard_ them having sex once."

"But you're not the one who's accidentally been in the Khaki Barn after hours," Sydni said.

They all shuddered at the thought. With that reaction being shared, this topic was done with.

* * *

Jonesy and Nikki ran through the parking lot until they made it to his car. Jonesy didn't know if he could wait until they made it to his home.

"C'mon, babe, can't we just mess around in here?" he asked as he claimed the driver's seat.

"Hell no. You're the one who started this. I should get control over everything else." The annoyed look on her face became a mischievous one shortly afterward. As Jonesy started the car, a little sadly after hearing her response, Nikki said, "Besides, I can't do everything I want to do to you in here."

He definitely perked up. "'Everything you want to do to me'?"

She smirked in the same manner she did when she teased him about losing, only this time Jonesy actually felt like a winner. "You heard me. _Everything_," she said, each word more enticing.

Within seconds, Jonesy started the car. There had been a pause while he was driving until he said, "You know what? You're pretty freaky."

She lightly hit his shoulder. "Am not." She crossed her arms. "I just know what I want in the relationship."

"Well, I'm not surprised you want all this handsomeness in front of you."

She rolled her eyes, but grinned seconds later. "Shut up, stupid."


End file.
